Wednesday, July 09, 2008

I'm really not one to trash talk most of the time -- I'll leave that to Martin ;) -- or keep score. But I have to observe that it has been a bit over a month since I posted a message to Chuck Colson, and almost three weeks since my last correspondence with Mike, who wrote: "They have seen your post, so it is hopefully just a matter of scheduling time for Chuck to reply to it."

I don't want to keep pestering Mike, it's certainly not his fault. It's not that there's any big hurry, I'm just wondering if he still intends to respond. I'm keeping an eye on the Zondervan blog on my feed reader, just in case anything pops up and I don't hear about it. So far, no comment.

I sure hope this means that Chuck felt he had to devote a lot of time and attention so he could appropriately address the reply that I worked so hard on. If that's what it means, then I'll be flattered. Certainly I would never stoop to suggesting that he decided that this whole "talking to atheist bloggers" thing was a bad idea to begin with, or that he'd rather sweep my post under the rug than publicize it.

Update, 7/10: Mike writes that

We’re getting close to having a response from Chuck. I just received an email from his assistant today that he has responded and I should have something soon from him. Once I do I’ll get it posted on the Zondervan blog. I’ll email you again once I get it posted on the Zondervan blog, just so you know it’s up. Thanks much.

"I mean, come on... Chuck Colson? How come these people never find Jesus when things are good. It's only when they've f****d things up so horribly that then, and only then, do they turn to Christ. Nobody ever finds Jesus on prom night."

It would be helpful if theists such as Colson would back up their religious claims instead of claiming what others' beliefs (or lackthereof) are. I guess that's what we're waiting on in his much delayed blog response.

Somehow, I suspect that Colson's story is made up. But even if I give him the benefit of the doubt, merely saying "Oh god" or "Oh my god" in a moment of stress does not make one a believer. Most people say such things out of habit. Heck, I still say "Jesus Fucking Christ!" when I get pisssed off about something. It's just an expression though.

Now, if the professed atheist started reciting the 23rd psalm or praying during the moment of turbulence on the plane, then there would be a valid reason to doubt his atheism.

As for myself, three years ago I went through the worst crisis in my adult life and feared I would lose everything that mattered to me, but I never wavered in my atheism and everything turned out okay in the end.

I say things like "Jesus Christ!," "god, no!" or "Oh, mah Lord"(the accent is intentional, it reminds me of an SNL sketch starring Amy Poehler =P) all the time and I don't feel bothered by the expressions in the slightest. I'm still the same radical lil' heathen I've been since I was 13. I should also point out that I'm one of those petty, petty atheists who will saw off a foot with cinnamon waxed dental floss before capitalising the word "god"(it's a simple noun and this ain't German so, sorry, no capitals for you n_n).

They're just meaningless, though phonetically satisfying phrases for me. I can't deny however, that the fact that they may be offensive to theists due to the whole "taking the Big Guy's name in vain" dealie is a nice plus as well(I told you, petty, petty, petty). But don't anybody get me started on saying "Bless you." -_-'

P.S.: Yeah, I know big-G god is supposed to mean THE god as opposed to A god but I don't care. I already capitalise "Jesus" "Bible" and "Christian"(even when nobody's nice enough to reciprocate with "Atheist") 'cause they're proper nouns. If they want their precious capital letter, they can call it Yahweh or Jehova or the Abrahamic god or the Christian god. I don't even care if you just name it "god" but at least do it in another language so I feel like you put in a little effort. If they do that, I'll make sure to reward your hard work by going the extra mile and pushing Shift before your deity's initial letter. And if you don't believe me, just ask Allah and It will tell you that I'm serious.

Oh, yeah, I forgot one last thing, it's not "he" or even "she," to me it will always be "It"... IT!. =D

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PLEASE NOTE: The Atheist Experience has moved to a new location, and this blog is now closed to comments. To participate in future discussions, please visit http://www.freethoughtblogs.com/axp.The Atheist Experience is a weekly live call-in television show sponsored by the Atheist Community of Austin. This independently-run blog (not sponsored by the ACA) features contributions from current and former hosts and co-hosts of the show.